USA > Pennsylvania > Greene County > History of Greene County, Pa. : containing an outline of the state from 1682, until the formation of Washington County in 1781. History during 15 years of union. The Virginia and new state controversy--running of Mason's and Dixon's line--whiskey insurrection--history of churches, families, judges, senators, assembly-men, etc., etc. > Part 11
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the hunter might insist that he alone had done the killing, the panther might demur on the grounds that he was there first and consequently had "preemption" rights. Not far from this panther lick an affair occurred "in early day, as poets say," that was somewhat amusing to the spectator, but full of deep serious earnestness to the parties engaged in it. William Gran- don (the son of the same Edward Grandon who shot the pan- ther at the liek) was out on a bear hunt, and finally succeeded in bringing down a mammoth bruin of the femenine gender. Without the usual precaution of loading his gun, he ran up to bleed his victim. Just as he was within easy reach he made the discovery that her bearship was not yet ready to part with: life, and thinking, no doubt, that she had been basely mal- created by an intruder on her rightful domain, she determined to resent any further indignities, and just as he applied the knife to her hairy throat she struck her ponderous paw into the back of his hunting shirt, giving him a hint that "one good turn deserves another." The idea seems to have been suddenly impressed on his mind that "prudence was the better part of valor." In order to carry out this new impression he sud- lenly departed from the place, leaving a small patch of linsey in the elaws of Mrs. Bruin as a memento of his kindness. In these efforts to break the "last link" that bound the friends to- gether, Mr. Grandon was very much indebted to the timely interference of a large dog, that seemed to have had some- what peculiar ideas of "fair play," and in order to carry them out, just as Mr. Grandon applied the knife to the throat, he ap- plied his teeth to the hind leg, which divided the affection of the gentle female between the two friends to such an extent that they both escaped from her tender embraces. But although foiled this time she is apparently determined that she will not "waste all her sweetness on the desert air," and consequently she renews the pursuit, again extending an open paw, and in-
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serts it not only in the hunting shirt, but in something more tangible beneath it. Her prospects are good for a renewal of the previous proximity, but here the "pesky" dog again inter- feres and she is compelled to let go. But this thing is becom- ing monotonous, and as Mr. Grandon is a lover of variety he de- termins to change the program. Not a single ball is found in his shot-pouch, but there is plenty of powder in his horn. A charger full of this is poured down his gun, and as Mrs. Bruin approaches for a final "hug," the ungrateful man, who failed to appreciate all this intended kindness, thrust the muzzle of his gun down her open mouth and yawning throat and then dis- charges his powder, which was more potent in its effects than his ballet had previously been. Her bearship dropped helpless on the ground, and after several convulsive throws of anguish, expired a victim of unappreciated kindness. Now, gentle reader, after this panther and bear story, which occurred at different periods of time, please listen to one more in which the two animals were combined, as follows: Out on Fish creek, about eighty years ago, a famous hunter who was known as Killhim Gothard, was out hunting without success. The shades of evening were beginning to fall and the humilia- ting thought was momentarily impressing itself on his mind that he must return home without game. He was almost ready to curse his day, at least his luck ; but there is no alterna- tive. Reluctantly he turned his steps slowly towards the spot where he knew he could cross Fish Creek on a tree that had fallen across the stream. When he came in sight of this bridge he saw that there were other parties about to cross, and their growls and screams indicated that they intended to be cross about it. A panther on one side and a bear on the other side, both seemed insisting on their right to preempt the bridge. As no compromise could be effected they both started on the log at the same moment, and met in the midst of the stream.
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The old maxim, "When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war," is now to be tested. The panther, with his supe- rior agility, might have leaped safely over his clumsy antago- nist ; but no, he was anxious for a fight. The bear, however, seeing his opportunity, raised his awkward foot and striking his antagonist on the side of the head, hurled him headlong into the boiling stream below. No doubt bruin congratulated himself on his easy victory. But alas! his laurels are destined soon to fade, for his incensed enemy can never forgive such an insult as that. He swims nimbly to shore on the same side, where the exultaut bear has just arrived, and now with growl and yowl, each angry monarch of the forest approaches the other. The deep chasms and towering hills of Fish Creek echo and reverberate with their mutual imprecations, and when their rage has reached the highest sublimity, with one deep- Irawn, dreadful yowl, the conflict begins. The panther makes one high leap, and as he descends, lights on the back of the- animal that had so recently insulted him. Vain are bruin's efforts to shake him off. His long, dagger-like fangs sink deeper and deeper into the neck of his luckless foe, until at last. the jugular vein is reached, and the hot life-blood soon reddens the ground, and causes the previously victorious bear to suc- cumb to superior activity. All this time our hunter has watched with intense anxiety to see the favorable time for him to inter- fere. It has come at last; he need not return home without having made as high a mark this day as he ever did any day of his life. Thus while the victorious panther triumphantly. lashes his sides with his great eat-like tail, and commences to. liek up the blood of his fallen foe, the unseen hunter wipes off' his "frissen," examines his priming, carefully lays his rifle in a rest, pulls the trigger and the deadly bullet lays the panther low. Thus man, "to whom was granted dominion over the beasts of the earth." comes not to divide the spoil. but to retain
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it all. I am still further indebted to my old friend Ezekiel Grandon for another story, which I have no doubt is true, as he is a man of unsurpassed memory, especially as regards oc- currences fifty or sixty years ago. He has almost lived out his three score and ten years. He is a great Bible reader, a man of undoubted veracity, a zealous member of the South Tenmile Baptist Church, and in short just about the right kind of a man, (only in your conversation with him, reader, you must just let him have his own way on the mode on babtism,) as I do. But now for the narrative. It occurred almost sixty years ago in the bounds of the present Richhill township, Greene county. At that date game was abundant, especially in the upper end of "Little Greene." There were a few Nim- rods, whose daily avocation was scouring the woods in search of deer, elk, bear, wolves, panthers, etc .; and woe be to luckless animals that came within range of their deadly rifles, which discharged a ball, forty-five of which made a pound avoirdu- poise. There were also abundance of men to whose palate a roast of deer meat, a slice of jerk or a hunk of venison tasted just as sweet as it did to the regular hunter. But alas! they cannot procure it; although they can draw a fine sight at a mark, or can knock down a squirrel from the tallest tree, yet such game as we have named above, is too large for them. They meet it in the woods, but that strange disease knowli as "buck fever" at once attacks them, and trembling similar to Bellshazar, unstrings their nerves ; the gun refuses to remain in one position ; they fire, but the untouched deer bonuds away, showing them his heels in a way that seemed to say, "I guess you didn't." The regular hunters, proud of their success, were not by any means backward in ridiculing their less fortunate neighbors who now determine to act the "dog in the manger." If we can't the hunters shan't feast on the corpses of the buck and the doc. For this purpose they got up the most extensive
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circular hunt ever known in these western counties. Marshals are selected with great care, not only from Greene but Wash- ington and Fayette counties ; the Pan-Handle and West Vir- ginia respond to the invitation to join in the extermination. The lines of circumvollation were not precisely the boundaries of old Richhill township, but were about equally extensive. The place of rendezvous is carefully selected, which is a cireu- lar valley near Kineaid's mill. The long expected day arrives. From all quarters horsemen and footmen, armed with guns, may be seen hastening towards the spot where their respective lines are to be formed. But not a dog, neither mongrel puppy, whelp, hound, nor eurr of low degree can put in an appearance that day ; although it is said "every dog has his day," yet that was not their day ; if they must bark, they must lay in their kennels or at the end of their chains and bark at their fleas. But the stalwart men press on ; the lines are formed, and the blowing of horns and the firing of guns announce that the deadiv march has begun. Nearer and nearer the formidable lines au- proach the place of the anticipated slaughter. But alas! the line from Morris township is behind time. The game tind the gap, and away goes the stag, the wolf and most of the young reynards ; but there is one old fox that seems to have had an inkling that as there were to be no dogs present, consequently not much danger, even if some of his descendants had said the Nimrods are in the line, he might have replied in fox parlance. "what of it; they are all on our side," which was true. Al- though the force of circumstances almost compelled the regular hunters to take their places in the line, they did it unwillingly and whenever they saw an opportunity of doing so with impu- nity, they stepped aside and purposely let the game escape. virtually bidding it go in peace. But the old red fox could not be thus dismissed. Being of an inquisitive disposition, he determined to go on and see what will be the result at the com-
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ing-out place. Finally that place is reached; it is advanta- geously chosen ; a circle of tress are blazed around the crest of the hill so as to allow no human biped to enter the dark valley where the congregated thousands of quadrupeds are to be slaughtered without mercy. When the thousands of eager men began to crowd thickly together on the hills overlooking this Golgotha, what a sight met their expectant vision. But I draw a veil over the scene of slaughter. A large number of deer were swung behind the saddles of the horsemen. Some few wolf scalps were taken. But now the grand exhibition commences. The same old fox is not satisfied with the day's performances. He has been at many a hunt, but none without dogs before. Why, he has had no exercise at all. This will never do; and as he seems to know that the Nimrods are on his side, and that only the men who are afflicted with buck- fever will shoot at him, he makes his appearance and de- scribes one flaming cirele around the ring. Unhurt he runs the gauntlet again and again, while hundreds of rifles are fired at him. The guns of the Nimrods contained nothing but pow- der, while the bullets of the masses go almost everywhere else than into the hide of this celebrated racer. Sixteen com- plete circles had been made, when esteeming this glory enough for one day, he finally yielded to his fate and fell pierced by several bullets which seem to have struck him about the same time. Several persons claimed the honor of sheding the blood of this brave red fox that certainly did enough to immortalize his name if he only had been fortunate enough to have had onc.
After having taxed the patience of our readers thus long with old Indian, panther and bear stories, I will now proceed to give some brief biographies of some of the old settlers in the upper end of the county of Greene. James Burns was of Scotch descent, (somewhat distantly descended from the same family of which the old Scotch poet was a member). He set-
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tled at an early day on the waters of Owens' run where he be- came the owner of several tracts of land, which had previously been part of the Thomas Leiper lands. He was an expert hunter, whose deadly rifle was almost sure to bring down any animal on which he drew a bead. About sixty-five years ago Richhill township had only two Whig voters, Mr. Burns being one, and Francis Braddock the other. The descendants of these men, to a considerable extent in their numerous affinities, make up the Republican voters of Richhill township to-day. When Mr. Burns became old he divided out his extensive tracts of land among his children, entailing those lands to them and their children after them, as far as the constitution of the State will permit. However praisworthy the intentions of the grantor in making this entailment, it has always been a question in my mind as to whether there are not more evil than good conse .. quences resulting from it, as its direct tendency is to constitute the children of any given generation nothing more than ten- ants for life, thus destroying that mainspring of enterprise which is found to result alone from ownership, and as man must have his support from some source, it is evident that it must either be obtained by his own exertions, or be filched from the com- munity in which he lives. My own observation is to the effect that man will do more by way of improvement and aggrandise- ment when he is the sole owner, and when every acre of land is at all times liable for the fulfillment of all his contracts. Yet I have known instances in other localities where insolent rascal- ities were practiced just because the parties were shielded by entailment. Although there may be exceptions, as there are in the Burns case, still I am disposed to think that the fewe; shielding exemption laws we have the better for all parties. Possibly an instance may occur occasionally in which a rapa- ciouse, cold-blooded creditor may cruelly strip a most worthy but helpless debtor. Yet the instances of wrong-doing will
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not be more than one in twenty of what there will be if all debtors can bid their creditors defiance and laugh them to scorn when they attempt to secure their just dues. When the debtor is protected by a law that exempts everything below & certain value, by this means a double wrong is done : first, to the creditor by depriving him of his dues; secondly, to the debtor who must carefully calculate lest accidentally he might come in possession of more property than the law will exempt, thus tying his hands and destroying his earnings to that extent that he often deprives himself of the comforts of life rather than run the risk of paying what he honestly owes. About six miles from the place where Mr. Burns settled there lived, about eighty years ago, a very singular old man of the German persuasion, whose name I will not mention, as he has some very respectable descendants. This old man was afflicted with that singular disease called hypocondria, and the particular type of it was that he imagined himself to be made of glass and was continually cautioning those around him to be careful lest they should break off some of his limbs, or otherwise deface him. His family protested and scolded and derided his notions. bat all in vain. The more his opinions were controverted the more firmly he became convicted of their truthfulness. 'Some one advised the family to humor his whims in all particulars until a favorable opportunity should be presented of convine- ing him of their absurdity. At his suggestion the sons procured: a cart to which they attached a yoke of quiet oxen; they care- fully placed a feather bed in it, on which they placed the old man in a position, partly sitting, partly lying and partly stand- ing, very exactly complying with his most minute wishes. Thus carefully equipped, the oxen, the cart and the sons started out to give the old invalid the benefit of the fresh air. One of the sons drove the oxen slowly along the bank of Wheeling creek, until they had arrived at the mouth of Crab Apple run-
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occasionally stopping to let all parties rest-when the young man who walked behind as a kind of rear guard, seems to have conceived the idea that there was something wrong with one of the wheels of the cart, at least he had something to do with the linehpin which he was seen carrying in his hand, and it evidently was not put back in its proper place, as the cart had only proceeded a short distance when just above the steepest part of the bluff, Oh! horror of horrors, the wheel came off, down went that side of the cart, away went the feather bed, and worst of all, down went the man who imagined himself made of glass, over the bluff, over the rocks. Surely he will share the fate of Nebuchadnezzar's image-he will "become as the small dust of the threshing floor." But no! from the bed of the creek up comes, first horrid imprecations, then stones hurled from a giant arm, then an enraged man who gave chase to the undutiful rascals who with difficulty made their escape. The sequel of this story, which I have from undoubted authority, is that the man was cured of his foolish delusion, drove the oxen and cart home himself, after putting on the wheel and gather- ing up the feather bed. But it was long before he forgave the boys who played him such a mean trick. As troubles sel- dom ever come single-handed, so delusions often make their appearance near the same localities and about the same dates. Hence not far from the date when the dutchman was tumbled out of his cart, a man moved over from Washington county, that "land of learning, where the people all believe themselves smart ; where they never tire of glorifying their ancestors, whose sons, find them where you may, whether on the bound- less prairies of the western States, in the fastnesses of the Rockey Mountains, or on the Pacific slope, always arogate to themselves the chief places in assemblies, and although they may scarce be able to tell who made them, yet they will place their thumbs in the ar holes of their vests, teter themselves
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up and down on their toes, and exclaim with an air of superi- ority, "stand back here; let me see. 1 am from Washington county. How must the benighted inhabitants of Greene have rejoiced to see such a light as this settling on the State Road, within two miles of the present Jacktown What grand antic- ipation must have lit up the darkened imaginations of those prim- itive settlers when this luminary of the first magnitude, conde- scended to squat among them. But alas! their air castles are destined to crumble around them, for it is soon found that he is laboring under a delusion almost equal to the Dutchman who was dumped into the creek, the difference being the German was content to think himself glass, while the other, (because he came from Washington county, of course must imagine him- self something superior), consequently imagined himself Porce- lain China. He was very fearful that, in his contacts with the rough masses among whom his lot was cast, that he might be broken, maimed or dashed to atoms; consequently he was always cautioning all who came in to see him to be ware how they handled him, as he was composed of the most costly kind of China ware. These men, rough as they were, could not have "the wool pulled over their eyes" in that way. They were in possession of good "mother wit," and concluded that this new- comer was only flesh and blood, created out of the same dust as the rest of mankind, therefore could not look upon him with that degree of veneration that he seemed to claim as his duc, and in the abundance of their benevolence they concluded to dispel the delusion under which he was laboring and eure him for all time of his belief that he was a helpless invalid. With this determination in view, some four or five of them called on him one morning and insisted that he should take a ride for his general health. After much persuasion he was in- duced to allow himself to be lifted carefully on the sumit of a saddle, the stirups and girth of which had been almost ent. off
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immediately under the skirt so that he could not make the dis- covery. This saddle was placed on the back of an antiquated but spirited nag that would by no means bare the whip. Two kind-hearted neighbors, mounted on more sober horses, were to accompany the sick man in his morning ride, while the remain- der were to act their part on foot. All things being ready, one of the irreverent footmen picked up a thorn bush previously prepared, and struck the spirited horse on which the porcelain man was mounted, a severe blow. The consequences were im- mediate and alarming. The horse sprang forward with a des- perate leap ; the invalid thrusts his weight into the stirups, one of which immediately broke, throwing him on one side of the saddle; the girth now gave way, dropping both man and sad- dle on the ground, where it might be supposed the man would have gone to fragments, and that those who had so kindly as- sisted him, would have had a busy day in placing the different pieces in something like respectable shape for burial. But no. The breaking of Pandora's box could not have produced a more frightful aparition than was seen to rise up from the spot where that man fell. Without stopping to reflect that he was only China and certainly must be dashed to hopeless nonentity, he immediately appealed to stone after stone, and finally the thorn bush, which was as potent as the scourge of small cords in driving the money-changers out of the Temple. With this weapon he cleared the ridge from the intrusions of his real but, in his opinion, false-hearted friends. The halucination was broken and dispelled. But the man became the butt of ridicule to such an extent that he returned to Washington county where the people were sufficiently advanced to appreciate properly . the refined feelings of a man made of porcelain China. While writing of delusions and halucinations, I will mention just one more, which used to exist in the bounds of Greene county, that was perhaps equally absurd with any thing that ever did occur
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in any locality, and yet no names dare be mentioned, from the fact that the man was respectably connected then and has left behind him descendants of high respectability. This man was evidently dispeptic, and as he suffered greatly in the region of his stomach he came to the conclusion that that important lo- cality was occupied by a shoemaker whose incessant pounding gave him all his acute misery. He would often invite his friends to listen, saying "don't you hear him pounding on his lapstone," "now he is sewing up the eye-seam," "now he is driving in his last," &c. His friends adopted the following plan to disabuse his mind of those ridiculous notions ; hence one of them procured some lobelia which was made into tea, and the man was induced to drink it. It soon produced vomiting, and the suffering man beheld an awl which a bystander had dropped down before him, which he thought he had ejected from his month. Presently a shoemaker's knife, then the different parts of the "kit" were thrown down before him, and finally a small man with a leather apron on sprang past him and ran for the woods. This he believed to be the veritable shoemaker who had given him so much pain, and as his emetic had caused him to disgorge the contents of an overloaded stomach, his health was much improved and the ailment gone.
In Centre township there lived for many years a man who had a grevious crime laid to his charge, and that crime was no less than the murder of one Polly Williams at the White Rocks, in Laurel Hill Mountains, in the year 1810. In the year 1846, in company with my father-in-law, Hon. Samuel Nixon, of Fayette county, I visited the mountains for the purpose of ex- ploring Delaney's Cave and also of seeing the spot where this murder was committed. We arrived first at the cave where wo only made a partial exploration in consequence of the lateness of the hour, having consumed considerable time in gathering huckleberries. About four o'clock, v. M., we arrived at the
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White Rocks. After hitching our horses, we started to walk across a level bed of moss, and soon were stopped, and I was startled by finding myself standing on the ledge of a smooth rock, perhaps eighty feet in perpendicular height. My father- in-law said "this is the White Rock." The day was excessively hot, hence he started, saying "follow me." IIe then led the way through the bushes by a surpentine course down to the base of the rock. Then stooping down and creeping under a projecting rock, he said "there is where the body lay when we found it. "Turning a little to one side, we sat down in the cool shade of the rock, where he told me the following story, viz : "This girl, Polly Williams, lived with Jacob Moss, about eight miles from the foot of the mountain, near McClellandtown. There she became intimately acquainted with Philip Rogers, who seems to have brought himself under obligations to marry her. IIe then began to frame a great many excuses, until his conduct became so suspicious that Mr. Moss forbade him com- ing about his house. Having found means to communicate with the girl, he invited her to meet him at Boyd's mill, near New Salem. The girl arrived first, but having had her fears excited by what Mr. Moss had said, she climbed into a tree. Rogers soon arrived, but acted so suspiciously that she con- cluded he intended to drown her in the deep waters of the mill dam, and she remained concealed. Some time after this she received a letter from him, inviting her to meet him at his ur .- cle's, who lived on a farm near the foot of the mountain, which: farm is now owned and occupied by Alfred Stewart, brother of the late Hon. Andrew Stewart. Here they met. After some conversation, they started, saying they were going to get miar- ried. All was quiet from this time (Thursday afternoon) until Saturday evening about sun-down, when two children arrived at Nixon's mill, informing those they met that while hunting their cows in the mountains their dog had commenced barking
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